The Best VPN for PUBG Mobile in 2024

By Samuel Chapman

Last update: March 7, 2024

Quick Answer: Which VPN Is Best for PUBG?

If you just want to get online fast and start the action, here are the top five PUBG mobile VPNs.

1. ExpressVPN — Best VPN for PUBG
2. NordVPN — VPN with the fastest download speeds
3. Mullvad — Cheapest monthly VPN for PUBG
4. Private Internet Access — Lowest-latency VPN
5. Proton VPN — Best free VPN for PUBG

Overall Rating 9.5 / 10

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PUBG: Battlegrounds (formerly PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) can be dangerous to play online, and I’m not just talking about headshots. The more you step up your game, the more likely you are to face doxxing and DDoS attacks from disgruntled opponents. Luckily, the best VPN for PUBG — or any of my best VPN picks — will protect you better than any bulletproof vest.

PUBG was the first standalone game in the battle royale genre. Although it may not be as wildly popular as its successor Fortnite, PUBG still has over 300,000 players at any given time. That means you still have a chance of running into the sort of bad egg who thinks it’s acceptable to call a SWAT team on you for kicking their butt.

If you’re connected to a VPN, though, sore losers won’t be able to track your location through your IP address. You’ll also be able to play PUBG in countries like India, Nepal and Jordan, where it’s currently banned. There’s even a slim chance that using the right VPN service at the right time will help your connection speed. I’ll explain it all below.

My Top Choice: ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN offers a large menu of impeccably maintained low-latency VPN servers in a clean interface. If you’re suspicious of the hype around ExpressVPN, I’m here to say you can ignore it completely — once you spend time using it like I have, you’ll know it deserves its reputation. You can try ExpressVPN with its 30-day money-back guarantee so you can form your own judgments.

Overall Rating 9.5 / 10

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The 5 Best PUBG VPN Services Compared

1. ExpressVPN — The Best VPN for PUBG Mobile

ExpressVPN is the best VPN for PUBG mobile. It also tops my best VPN for gaming list for many of the same reasons I’ve highlighted here: It keeps latencies low, offers tons of server locations, gets you online quickly and has never compromised its users’ security. My full ExpressVPN review can tell you more.

When you just want to boot up the PUBG app and get to the gameplay, ExpressVPN is the easiest tool. It comes with IKEv2, a common feature of the best VPNs for mobile. This VPN protocol keeps downtimes extremely short when switching networks, so it’s perfect for gaming on the move. The Lightway protocol, a reimplementation of WireGuard, also performs well.

As you’ll see in my speed tests, ExpressVPN keeps latencies low and lags minimal, at least on nearby servers. However, the real standout feature is how it combines performance with security. Many VPNs make concessions to keep things moving, but ExpressVPN is the total package — I’ve never seen it leak, and it’s never once violated its no-logs policy.

On top of that, it’s just smooth to use. Every server connects fast, and the extra features — including the VPN kill switch and malware-blocking Threat Manager — can all be toggled with a click. The only real downside is the price, which comes in high, though monthly plans aren’t much pricier than average.

ExpressVPN Speed Test Results

Because latency is so important for the PUBG mobile experience, I focused on finding the shortest pings when running my speed tests this time. I’d caution against reading too much into the latency results, since distance plays much more of a role than the VPN itself does.

That said, ExpressVPN increased my ping by just 10 milliseconds (ms) on the nearest server, well under the 100 ms maximum for smooth gaming. It only slowed down once I was thousands of miles away on another continent — nearby, its speeds are more than enough to jump to a neighboring country to get around a ban.

Overall Rating 9.5 / 10

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2. NordVPN — Good VPN for Fast Download Speeds

NordVPN is one of the most popular gaming VPNs. By prioritizing speed and keeping pings short, it’s become one of the top choices for streamers, who can rely on it to keep their video feeds steady and their avatars responsive. I talk more about its best points in my NordVPN review.

NordVPN is often seen as a rival to ExpressVPN, and indeed beats out the champion in two key areas: pricing and features. You can save a lot of money by subscribing to NordVPN for two years at a time, and that plan includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can pay a little more for cloud storage and a password manager, but the VPN is all you need for PUBG mobile.

The most gamer-friendly feature on NordVPN is Meshnet, which protects a remote connection between two devices. This lets you securely join a remote LAN party as if you were in the room. If you want to play PUBG mobile while traveling abroad, you can use Meshnet to securely access your home device.

NordVPN Speed Test Results

NordVPN’s latencies — both its fastest pings and its worldwide averages — look very similar to ExpressVPN’s, if slightly faster. However, its download speeds are the fastest on this list. As important as pings are, fast download speed also matters for a good gaming experience. If PUBG mobile has been slow to load with ExpressVPN, try NordVPN as your first alternative.

Overall Rating 9.2 / 10

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3. Mullvad — Cheapest Monthly VPN for PUBG

If you’ve already heard of Mullvad, you may know it as one of the most private VPN options. It requires no email address to sign up, instead authenticating every account as a stream of numbers. You can even pay in cash. This makes it a great choice for securing online privacy for journalists, but also for playing mobile games — there’s no trail connecting you to your real identity whatsoever.

My Mullvad review goes further into it, but basically, we can trust Mullvad’s security because it’s come up clean both in audits and real-world tests. One of its servers was recently confiscated by police in Sweden, but investigators found no evidence because Mullvad’s servers had wiped it all automatically.

Privacy isn’t the only thing this VPN offers gamers. Speeds are excellent on nearby servers, though they waver over long distances. Its pricing system — which charges five euros per month ($5.40 according to current exchange rates) no matter how long you use the service — makes Mullvad the cheapest month-to-month VPN. Choose it if you’re not sure about making a year-long commitment to a VPN service.

Mullvad Speed Test Results

Mullvad’s average latencies are low enough to compete with NordVPN and ExpressVPN. Though it was slightly slower on a nearby server, things evened out with better worldwide scores — making Mullvad a good choice if you’re aiming for gaming servers in another country. Sadly, its download speeds fared worse, with several servers lagging behind in my tests.

Overall Rating 8.4 / 10

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4. Private Internet Access — Lowest-Latency VPN

Private Internet Access (PIA) often gets written off as a budget VPN. While it certainly is cheap — an entire year costs just under $40 total — PIA VPN serves up other advantages for gamers. As I poked around in its interface, I was surprised by how much information it displayed and how many unique features turned up in the corners. 

For example, PIA allows port forwarding directly from the app.Sure, you can’t manually select the port, and it won’t work on every VPN server location. Still, the top three VPNs on this list all have little to no port forwarding support. I’ve often found that port forwarding cuts down my latency when gaming, so it’s good to see the option remains here.

Another great feature is its automation rules, which let you instantly activate PIA when on an unsecured network. I’ve found it convenient for getting in rounds of PUBG in airports, hotels, cafes and other places where I might forget to connect to the VPN. You can even customize its appearance more than most VPN apps.

Of course, none of that means anything if it’s not fast. Luckily, it is. PIA distinguished itself in my tests, showing the lowest average latency of any VPN on the list. On the nearest server, it increased my latency by just seven milliseconds. The only reason it placed fourth is that my download speeds plunged in a few locations. Learn more in my Private Internet Access review.

Private Internet Access Speed Test Results

What do my results here mean for you? Some players use a VPN to change their IP address and play PUBG mobile in different regions, increasing the challenge by going to more populated locations or switching to quieter areas for less stiff competition. If changing competitive areas is your goal, PIA VPN is the best choice, though you should still expect some lag.

Overall Rating 8.7 / 10

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5. Proton VPN — Best Free VPN for PUBG

If you skipped down to this section, I understand. You’re already paying for a mobile plan and maybe for PUBG content; having to buy an extra tool can be daunting. Proton VPN, a free VPN that doesn’t limit monthly usage, has you covered. Nor is it just a consolation prize — this is such a good service that my co-workers are sick of hearing me rave about it.

First, there’s the speed, which stays dependably fast anywhere in the world and keeps latencies relatively low. Proton VPN, which comes from the makers of Proton Mail and other privacy tools, also does a lot of work to earn your trust. It’s open source, supported by nonprofit entities and undergoes regular penetration testing.

On a lark, I speed-tested some of Proton VPN’s Secure Core servers, which run requests through an extra node protected by physical security (including a literal castle in one case). In addition to being nearly leak-proof due to the redundancy, the Secure Core connections hardly lost any speed.To learn more, check out my Proton VPN review.

If you plan to use the free Proton VPN plan for gaming, be aware that those servers aren’t as fast as the paid servers. It makes sense, since maintaining a good VPN server costs money, but it was still frustrating to see those numbers in my tests. The free plan will automatically pick the fastest server, but you should still expect some lag.

Proton VPN Speed Test Results

These are excellent numbers. Latency rose slowly enough that I could play a smooth game from any location within about 2,000 miles — more than enough to get outside a country that bans PUBG mobile. Since the free plan automatically picks the fastest server, you can even get these speeds without paying.

Overall Rating 8.8 / 10

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How to Choose the Best PUBG VPN

If you’d prefer to select your own PUBG mobile VPN rather than going with one of my recommendations, here are a few points to look for (in no particular order).

• Security: No matter what else a VPN service has to offer, never use one that doesn’t keep you safe. Make sure it has addressed all security vulnerabilities and is constantly updated to stay ahead of known exploits.
• Privacy: Your VPN service shouldn’t keep logs of your activities or track you in any way, especially if you’re playing PUBG in a country where it’s banned. Use VPNs with RAM-only servers and no-logging policies confirmed by published audits.
• Latency: Latency, measured by the length of a ping in milliseconds, is the most important speed stat for gaming. Use the free trial of any prospective VPN choice to test how long it takes to exchange data with a PUBG server.
• Speed: Fast download and upload speeds are also important for gaming. Don’t forget that VPN speed depends on your starting internet speed — even the fastest VPN can only be as quick as your internet connection.
• Server locations: To get game-quality latencies, you must have a server location that’s relatively nearby. Pick a VPN provider that offers a node within 500 miles of your actual position.
• Ease of use: You just want to play a game, not hack your way through complicated menus and laggy connections. Your chosen VPN should be easy to configure and should connect to any server quickly.
• Pricing: Although it’s often worth paying more, especially in ExpressVPN’s case, you should make sure a VPN fits your long-term budget.

Can You Use a Free VPN for PUBG?

One of the curses of the modern internet age is that it’s hard to build a good VPN and extremely easy to build a bad one. Mobile app stores are flooded with free VPNs, all claiming to be the fastest. In casual counts, I’ve seen over a thousand unique names.

If you’re tempted to use one, remember that any free service has another way of making money. The best free VPNs support themselves by locking certain features behind paywalls. When there’s no paywall, you can be sure the VPN makes money by logging your data and selling it to advertisers. Most free VPNs can’t be trusted.

The Best Free PUBG VPN: Proton VPN

Proton VPN is the best free VPN for PUBG for one main reason: the absence of data limits. All other reputable free VPNs cut you off at a certain amount of data every month. Proton VPN is the only free service where you don’t risk getting kicked from the server in the middle of a kill streak.

Overall Rating 8.8 / 10

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Our Proton VPN score

• Features
  9.5 / 10
• Pricing
  9.5 / 10
• User-friendliness
  9 / 10
• Speed
  6.5 / 10
• Security
  9 / 10
• Privacy
  9.5 / 10
• Streaming
  8 / 10
• Servers
  8 / 10
• Service
  8 / 10
• Apps Support
  8.5 / 10

However, if you’re using the VPN to play PUBG in a specific country, Proton isn’t the best choice — its free plan automatically selects the fastest of its five free servers, regardless of location. If you need a specific IP address, Windscribe is the best choice, with an ultra-low ping and 15 free GB per month (as long as you tweet about using it). Learn more in my Windscribe review.

Overall Rating 8.7 / 10

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Our Windscribe VPN score

• Features
  9 / 10
• Pricing
  10 / 10
• User-friendliness
  9 / 10
• Speed
  7 / 10
• Security
  9.5 / 10
• Privacy
  9.5 / 10
• Streaming
  8.5 / 10
• Servers
  8 / 10
• Service
  8 / 10
• Apps Support
  9 / 10

Why You Need a VPN to Play PUBG Mobile

I recommend people connect to a VPN anytime they go online. You can check my post on the benefits of a VPN to learn why, but it boils down to keeping your online activity private, staying safe on public WiFi and shrugging off throttling from your internet service provider (ISP). All those reasons apply to PUBG, but there are some additional things to consider as well.

• Prevent DDoS attacks. A DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack uses a network of bots to overload a system with so many requests that it crashes. Certain gamers launch DDoS attacks to save themselves from taking an L, but if you use a VPN, they won’t know which server to attack.
• Prevent doxxing and swatting. It’s rare, but some gamers have reacted so badly to losing that they’ve harassed their opponents in real life, even resorting to fake SWAT calls — killing at least one person. A VPN keeps anyone from digging up details about your real life from your IP address.
• Escape ISP throttling. Internet service providers throttle speeds for all sorts of reasons, most of them stupid. If you consistently find that your internet is slower than what you’re paying for, a VPN may actually run faster than an unprotected connection — which means lower latencies for PUBG as well.
• Circumvent PUBG bans. A VPN can change your IP address so you appear to be connecting from a different country. If you live in one of the countries that has banned PUBG, including China, India, Nepal, Iraq and Jordan, you can still play by using a VPN to get online through a nearby nation.

A crucial note: VPNs can only protect you from DDoS and doxxing attacks if the attacker doesn’t already know your real IP address. If the perpetrator has your IP address or your real home address, it won’t matter if you encrypt your connection. Always keep your VPN on while playing,and take extra care with opponents you know in real life.

How to Play PUBG Mobile With a VPN

Connecting to PUBG with a mobile VPN is as simple as firing an M416. There are just three steps to follow. I’ll use ExpressVPN to illustrate them.

• Download and Install a VPN: Almost every VPN website has download links for various platforms. Find the VPN app for the device you’re using to play PUBG, then download and install it using the onscreen instructions. Make an account on the VPN’s website, choose a payment method and log into the app.

• Find the VPN’s list of server locations. For the lowest latency, choose one close to where you are in reality. If you’re in a country where PUBG is banned, pick a nearby location outside the country — for example, people in Jordan should pick a server in Turkey or Israel. Once you pick a server, connect to the VPN.

• Open PUBG mobile: Once you’ve confirmed your connection to a VPN server, open the PUBG mobile app and start playing as normal. The VPN’s encryption will protect your real IP address while you play.

Conclusion

Using a VPN for PUBG mobile protects you from the threat of getting hacked or swatted by other players (though only if those players don’t know your IP address already). My favorite is ExpressVPN, a balanced and highly usable service, but you can’t go wrong with any pick on this list — it’s low latencies and unlimited bandwidth all around.

Have you managed to get onto PUBG mobile using a VPN? Did you have to get around a firewall to do so? And what’s your favorite character loadout for the battle royale? Tell me everything in the comments. Thanks for reading!

FAQ: VPN for PUBG Gaming 

• What Is the Best VPN for PUBG?

  ExpressVPN is the best VPN for PUBG. It keeps latencies low and offers a huge menu of countries to connect through, and its security has remained unconquered for more than 10 years. It can even unblock Netflix for when you’re done gaming.

• Is It Safe To Play PUBG With a VPN?

  Not only is it safe, but given the threat of attacks on your IP address during the game, it’s far safer than not using a VPN.

• What VPN Do Most Gamers Use?

  ExpressVPN is extremely popular among gamers, but some prefer NordVPN for its faster download speeds, Mullvad or PIA for their low latencies, or Proton VPN for its affordability.

• Which VPN Has the Lowest Ping for Playing PUBG Mobile?

  In my tests, Mullvad had the lowest latency on nearby servers, while ExpressVPN and NordVPN saw the lowest increase in latency as distance to a server increased.